Table Top Finish......Advice needed

I just got an oak table also, with a very thin finish coat. I sanded
it lightly with 320 grit, then brushed on two thick coats of Behlen's
RockHard table-top varnish. Make sure you get a nice brush. There
were some bubbles soon after I brushed it on, but most of these settled
out just fine. I got some dust nibs, and the top is now very
high-gloss (but very pretty and not the least bit cloudy!). I plan to
wet-sand with 600 grit automotive paper next to get rid of the dust
nibs and take down the gloss, and finally rub with 0000 steel wool and
possibly wax. I'm very impressed with the Rockhard so far - heat and
moisture have not touched it. On the can, they suggest a 50-50 thinned
coat as a sealer on bare wood before any other finishing. I got it
from Woodcraft, but it's also available from Rockler and Highland
hardware I think.
Good luck,
Andy

For a fool proof and durable finish, I would suggest using a wiping
poly. Brush marks in Poly can be brutal. You can wiping poly pre-mixed
or mix your own from any oil based polyurethane by mixing it 1:1 with
mineral spirits. The can might say not to thin this much but it works
great.

Wash it on thickly with a foam or bristle brush, then wipe it down with
a lightly saturated lint free cloth (tee shirt). Let dry at least 4,
preferably 24 hours between coats. Lightly hand sand with 400 after
first or second coat. 3 or 4 coats total will be plenty, more if you
want a flat plastic look. 48 hours after last coat, circular motion
with 0000 steel wool and very small amout of furniture paste wax, then
buff after dry (10-20 minutes).

It's best to really flood the surface, then wipe it down so you get
good saturation in the grain.

For a better look (IMHO), after the first or second coat, wipe it down
with a dark gel stain and the Oak grain lines will hold the dark stain
and really look great. Make sure to seal another coat or two over this.

Of course, try all of this first on some location where it is less
visible than on the top to make sure you like the look.

"bremen68" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I just "inherited" an oak table and chair set.....The problem is the
> table doesn't have sealer on it. What's the best plan to get it sealed
> against water damage?

No finish at all?

> I'm hoping for some help to make sure I'm headed in the right
> direction.
>
> My thought is that I'll use some fine sand paper or steel wool before
> applying a seal. Then several coats of poly and steel wool between
> each coat.

The are about a bazillion answers to this question, here is my
recommendation based on my assumption that you have probably never done any
furniture finishing before.

Purchase a wipe-on poly. This stuff is formulated to a lower viscosity and
can be applied with a lint-free cloth. The easiest way to get a
crappy-looking poly coating is to apply it with a brush. The things that can
(and probably will) go wrong with brushed-on poly is that it goes on
thickly. That means that every surface imperfection (drip or landed speck of
dust) is going to be very noticable.

By wiping, you put on very thin coats and if you get a drip, you are doing
something really wrong. Dust nips will, for the most part, will get knocked
off with a light sanding or steel wooling between coats. Make sure you
remove all dust before recoating.

The downside to this is that you will have to put on more coats. Plan on
about 6 coats give or take. Each coat does not take a whole lot of
effort/time to apply but the waiting in between can add up. Take your time;
put on a thin coat once a day for a week and you will get nice result. If
you can wait another week before putting it into service that would be even
better. varnishes can take up to a month to fully cure.

Thick & fast with yield an amaturish result.

-Steve